Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

KEY LARGO -- Joanne Page, 51 from North Carolina died Thursday after diving at French Reef, about 4 ½ miles off Key Largo in the Atlantic Ocean.

She was pronounced dead on the scene.

She had been diving with her boyfriend, Eugene Jackson, also from North Carolina on the commercial dive boat, Sea Star.

According to Monroe County Sheriff's Office and Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission officers, the couple completed the first of two dives without incident. The problems began when they tried to swim back to the boat against a strong current after they surfaced from their second dive approximately 100 yards from the dive boat.

After battling the current and waves for about 30 minutes, Jackson looked back and saw that his girl friend had fallen behind and her head was underwater.

Crew members aboard the dive boat told investigators they could not see the two divers struggling in the water. In fact, they didn't even realize that Page and Jackson were missing until all the other divers were safely on board the boat.

The Coast Guard and FWC were called to help search for the missing divers who were eventually found by FWC officers. Jackson was alive but struggling to perform mouth to mouth. Page was taken to shore and pronounced dead.

Continue reading " Florida Keys Diving Accident Claims Life Of North Carolina Tourist " »

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) recently announced that violent crime in Florida has decreased by 2.4 percent for the first half of 2008, down from the same time period in 2007. The FDLE report includes data obtained from over 400 law enforcement agencies regarding violent crimes reported between January and June of this year. The numbers for four categories of violent crime, murder, robbery, aggravated assault and forcible sex offenses, all decreased this year compared to the same period in 2007. The number of crimes reported overall in Florida however increased by 1.6% compared to the same time period last year.

“The first half of the year is typically a good indicator as to what is ahead in the remaining months,” said FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey. “Arrests are up and we applaud the hard work of Florida law enforcement in aggressively combating crime.”

The number of domestic violence offenses reported decreased by 3.0 percent from last year while the number of total arrests made increased by 3.9 percent. Juvenile arrests increased 0.9 percent, while adult arrests increased 4.3 percent. Car theft is down 10.1 percent over the same period last year.

The complete 2008 Semi-Annual Crime in Florida, Uniform Crime Report, including county-by-county breakdowns, can be found on FDLE’s Web site: www.fdle.state.fl.us/fsac/ucr.

Continue reading " Florida Crime Report - 2008 " »

Two infant deaths have prompted a massive crib recall. The recall of cribs made by Delta Enterprises is being called the largest crib recall in U.S. history. The cribs pose an entrapment and suffocation hazard to infants. For more information, contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

China has had more than its share of dangerous, defective products making news lately. Now dangerous, defective Chinese-made cribs are said to pose the risk of entrapment and strangulation which can lead to infant brain damage or death. Already at least two infant deaths are being attributed to the recalled cribs so far.

New York-based Delta Enterprises recalled almost 1.6 million cribs manufactured in China, Indonesia and Taiwan after it said two babies died. No other details were made available.

Following the announcement by Delta Enterprise Corp. that it was issuing a massive crib recall following the deaths of two infants, the CPSC is considering changing its rules covering crib defects. According to an agency spokesperson, the CPSC was prompted to consider rule changes after its Early Warning System identified issues with the durability of cribs, especially those with drop sides that can disengage and lead to entrapment and strangulation hazards.

The crib recall is one of the largest ever initiated in the U.S. and follows another recall of 2,000 Chinese-made portable cribs which was issued by the CPSC just last week. Those cribs made by Playkids USA of Brooklyn, New York were recalled following the death of a 5-month-old infant. The baby died due to suffocation in August after becoming entrapped between the mattress and the drop side rail of the convertible crib.

This latest recall comes about a year after a massive recall of Mattel toys manufactured in China which were tainted with lead.

More recently, milk contaminated with melamine killed at least four children and prompted Chinese-made products to be pulled from shelves around the world. Tens of thousands of children fell ill with kidney stones.

In August, defective Simplicity bassinets were also recalled after they were implicated in the deaths of two children.

Prior to the August recall of dangerous bassinets, Simplicity recalled 1 million cribs in September 2007. Until this announcement by Delta, last year's Simplicity recall was the largest crib recall in US history.

Continue reading " Alert - Delta Crib Recall - Design Creates Risk Of Infant Death " »

Clearwater, Florida - Nick Bollea was released from Jail after causing a serious Central Florida car accident which left his friend with a traumatic brain injury - often referred to as a TBI.

Bollea is the son of famous wrestler Hulk Hogan. He was jailed last year after crashing his father's car. This Clearwater car accident made headlines because of the celebrity status of Bollea's father, but each year, thousands of people are seriously injured or killed in preventable Florida car accidents as a result of negligence.

Hopefully this tragic automobile accident will focus more attention on the problem and on prevention.

Nick Bollea was released from the Pinellas County Jail early this week after serving five months. He originally plead no contest to causing the crash.

Bollea was facing the possibility of serving up to five years in prison, but the victim's family requested a more lenient sentence.

Continue reading " Florida Brain Damage Case Revisited - Defendant Released From Jail " »

Interstate 595 was the scene of a Fort Lauderdale truck accident involving two other vehicles. The driver of one of the two passenger cars involved in the wreck died according to a spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol.

Investigators will not release the driver's identity until his relatives have been notified.

The driver was behind the wheel of a 2006 Ford Fusion when it crashed into a 2008 Dodge Dakota in the eastbound lanes of I-595 at about 4:50 a.m. The multi-vehicle crash was caused when one of the vehicles hit the rear wheel of a 2003 Sterling tractor.

Police are still investigating the Ft. Lauderdale car accident to determine whether one of the vehicles was traveling the wrong direction in traffic and which vehicle it may have been.

The Fusion's driver was transported by Fire Rescue to Broward General Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Two others involved in the crash were taken to that hospital -- Jose Pages-Segrera, 46, and Jose A. Pages, 20. Both are still hospitalized and are in serious condition. They are from Myakka City, a small town just east of Sarasota in Manatee County.

The tractor-trailer was a fuel tanker which, fortunately, was empty when the accident occurred.

Continue reading " Fort Lauderdale Truck Accident Leaves One Dead " »

Broward County, Florida - a Fort Lauderdale car accident sent one vehicle plowing into a group of pedestrians standing at a bus stop this morning. Four of them were injured and had to be transported by Fire Rescue to Broward General Medical Center for emergency medical treatment.

It all started when a car ran a red light on U.S. 1 at the intersection with N.E. Fourth Street around 10:30 am. Fort Lauderdale police said after running the red light, the car was hit by a County bus which pushed it into another car and then into a bus stop.

The names of the drivers and victims were not yet released.

An experienced Florida personal injury lawyer would first look to hold the driver who caused the crash responsible. However, when investigating a Florida automobile accident case, several issues must be addressed. The vehicle or vehicles involved would need to be inspected to make sure the accident wasn't caused in part by defective or poorly maintained brakes or some other defective automotive component part.

Some auto accidents are caused by a defective seat back which can cause a driver to lose control if it breaks. The harm caused by some car accidents is compounded when a defective fuel tank results in a fire and causes burn injuries or a design defect causes a vehicle to roll over. If a defective product or component part played a role in causing the accident, a Florida product liability case could be brought in addition to the automobile negligence claim.

Additionally, if it is determined that the offending driver was intoxicated, it is possible, in some circumstances, to bring a claim against the person or establishment that served alcohol to the drunk driver.

Where an accident victim dies as a result of the accident, the Florida wrongful death statute would apply to the case.

Continue reading " Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Leaves Four Pedestrians Injured When Car Plows Into Bus Stop " »

Tampa, Florida - A Florida Medical Malpractice Lawyer filed a lawsuit against University Community Hospital in Carrollwood for malpractice last month. The circumstances surrounding this case are anything but typical.

Robin Lumley, childless arrived at the hospital's emergency room 2 1/2 years ago complaining of terrible pain in her abdomen.

ER nurses documented her complaints and a doctor ordered tests. Lumley asked to use the restroom and the hospital staff let her go.

A short time later, the hospital's medical staff found that she had delivered a baby girl into the toilet.

The lawsuit alleges that Lumley, 46, didn't know she was pregnant.

Lumley's lawyer, however, claims the medical staff should have. Because they failed to recognize obvious signs and symptoms of labor, he says, Lumley's baby nearly drowned.

The lawyer sued the hospital contending that baby Brianna Rose Lumley went into respiratory arrest which resulted in hypoxic brain damage due to the near drowning and sub-standard medical treatment.

According to the lawyer, the law suit was filed on the child's behalf, not the mother's. If it is successful, Robin Lumley won't get a dime. All of the money recovered in the Florida medical malpractice case would be allocated to pay for the baby's medical care.

The hospital refused to comment on the pending litigation.

According to caregivers, baby Brianna is just starting to speak and while she has had physical therapy to strengthen her limbs, she will likely face more physical and cognitive challenges.

The lawsuit also alleges that a doctor ordered a pregnancy test, but that test was never performed.

While near drowning incidents rarely occur in a hospital, the consequences are almost always tragic. Hypoxic brain damage - caused by partial deprivation of oxygen to the brain, and anoxic brain damage - caused by total deprivation of oxygen to the brain, are common problems following a near drowning. This type of brain injury is also commonly the result of malpractice. See my earlier post "Miami, Florida - Brain Damage Due To Cerebral Anoxia / Hypoxia Can Result From Medical Malpractice".

Although this particular occurrence may be unusual in the hospital setting, medical malpractice is not. Unfortunately, many families suffer as a result of Florida medical malpractice.

Continue reading " Tampa - Near Drowning Of Infant Blamed On Hospital " »

Tampa, Florida - Deputies from the Hillsborough County's Sheriff's office arrested a 23 year old man who admitted shaking a 2-month-old baby.

Javaurian Vonshae Saffold was arrested on Monday and charged with aggravated child abuse. He is being detained at Orient Road Jail without bail.

The baby suffered a traumatic brain injury, fractured ribs and retinal bleeding.

Joseph's Hospital doctors were treating the baby for serious injuries.

Most people recognize that the facts surrounding this terrible incident will be the subject of a case in our criminal justice system. What many people do not realize is that crime victims, like this baby's family, have rights which can sometimes be enforced in the civil courts. In some cases, a victim of violent crime may be entitled to compensation.

One example of this is where a land or business owner's negligent security or inadequate security placed the victim at risk for a criminal attack. In cases where there is no Florida premises liability cause of action arising out of negligence, crime victims may still recover money through the Florida Crime Victims' Compensation Fund.

Continue reading " Tampa - Infant Brain Injury Results In Arrest " »

Florida Keys - Key West resident Timothy Prigge and Santiago Adames were injured in a Marathon car accident in the northbound lane of U.S. 1, known locally as Overseas Highway. The September 11th wreck occurred on the Long Key Bridge just to the north of Marathon.

Both Adames and Prigge suffered serious injuries in the crash and were airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center in Miami. Two passengers in the car driven by Prigge, Elizabeth Coats, 43, and a toddler were transported to Mariners Hospital in Tavernier.

As a result of the Florida Keys car accident, two restaurants in the Keys have closed temporarily. Santiago Adames ownes two Miami Subs restaurants, one in Marathon and one in Tavernier. The restaurants will remain closed while Adames recovers from injuries he sustained in the head-on collision that has left him unable to speak or walk.

Liliam Guzman, Adames' wife, closed both restaurants on Monday.

Apparantly, Adames, 42, was attempting to pass a car in the northbound lane of U.S. 1 on Sept. 11 when he crashed head-on into the vehicle driven by Timothy Prigge of Key West.

Prigge nearly had to have his right foot amputated and has bruised lungs from his seat belt. Coats suffered shattered bones in her foot and several broken ribs. The toddler, an 18 month old girl, sustained a burn injury on her neck from the airbag and abrasions to the cornea in her right eye.

While the full extent of Adames' injuries are not yet known, he is said to be battling infections in some internal organs and may have suffered a Florida traumatic brain injury (TBI) as evidenced by two blood clots on his brain. A TBI is always a concern when someone has suffered a head injury like this.

Overseas Highway which spans the Florida Keys from Key West to Key Largo, is a dangerous road and is often the site of serious car accidents. The road is long and narrow with very few places where it is safe to pass.

Continue reading " Marathon, Florida Car Accident Results In Traumatic Brain Injury " »